No scandal or ethics issues worth recalling in Hillary Clinton's past
and she'll have to endure the "rough" stuff Rudy Giuliani will
"dish out."

All the networks
ran full stories Wednesday night on Hillary Clinton's press conference
at Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan's farm and her first day of official
campaigning. But though a Fox News reporter actually asked her about how
many "don't believe you when you're dealing with the White House
billing records and turning $1,000 into $100,000," only FNC showed
the question and how she dodged in replying. ABC and CBS avoided the
scandal subject altogether while NBC made passing reference to how she was
asked about Whitewater and CNN allocated seven seconds to her wish to
"move beyond" such issues.

NBC's Andrea
Mitchell stressed how she'll have to endure the unfair and mean-spirited
tactics of Republican Rudy Giuliani: "The adulation is great, but is
she prepared for whatever Giuliani can dish out?"

On the Fox Report
Eric Shawn uniquely highlighted how she was asked about her ethics and how
she avoided answering:
"Her aides call it a listening tour, four
days of carefully crafted media events. She held court at the state
university, talking education. She deftly dodged questions about her
ethics, clearly trying to put the Clinton scandals behind her."
Shawn then played his question to her at press
conference: "How will you deal with the critics who don't believe
you when you're dealing with the White House billing records and turning
$1,000 into $100,000. You have been part of a strong campaign concerning
that."
Hillary replied: "Well I think New Yorkers
will make their own judgments about that. I think we've moved beyond all
of it and I'm going to be talking about the future of education and
health care and making sure that upstate New York gets the same kind of
economic opportunities that the rest of the state has enjoyed."

CNN's Bruce
Morton, on The World Today, offered a brief reference to this exchange:
"What about the scandals, Whitewater and so
on."
Hillary: "New Yorkers will make their own
judgments about that. I think we've moved beyond all of it."

Here's how the
Wednesday, July 7 broadcast network evening shows handled Hillary's
Clinton's first press conference on her campaign and first day of
acknowledged campaigning in New York:

-- ABC's World
News Tonight led with an article in Nature about a breakthrough on
Alzheimer's disease and did not get to Hillary until the very end of the
show.

Dean Reynolds
showed her beside Moynihan, noting: "The First Lady began this
courtship of a place she has never called home." Reynolds observed
that she "had a well planned answer" for that criticism before
playing a soundbite of Hillary conceding: "I think I have some real
work to do to get out and listen and learn from the people of New York and
demonstrate that what I'm for is maybe as important if not more
important than where I'm from."

Reynolds
continued: "Her choice of upstate New York for today's events,
including a stop at the Soccer Hall of Fame, was designed to build a
bridge to this predominantly Republican part of the state. Some spectators
were friendly, but others were not."
After a shot of a crowd chanting "Go home
Hillary," Reynolds concluded over video of Hillary in a meeting at a
college:
"Mrs. Clinton said she will spend the next
few months listening to New Yorkers about issues, building up expertise in
intimate settings that may deflect charges that she is an opportunistic
outsider. Her first attempt at that today had at least the look of
intimacy, though cameras from around the world foreshadowed the kind of
scrutiny she had better expect. Mrs. Clinton did something on the campaign
trail that is completely new to her: She spoke about her beliefs and her
issues and all with hardly a mention of her husband."

Maybe the local
media will provide the "scrutiny" since the national media sure
aren't.

(ABC also featured
a story on how the Air Force is "exhausted" by the Kosovo War
with few planes left for training and maintenance skipped for months. John
McWethy relayed an ominous plea: "Air Force leaders say their people
and planes are so worn out that for the first time in decades they are
pleading for a break of up to six months to recover, pleading with the
Navy and Marine Corps to temporarily cover for them overseas...")

-- CBS Evening
News. Dan Rather led with the tobacco verdict in Florida and then went to
Hillary. CBS reporter Diana Olick played several clips of Hillary but also
devoted the most time of any Wednesday story to opposition to her, noting:
"Just down the road the First Lady's star power didn't carry the
crowd."
Woman: "If you're going to represent New
York you've got to be from New York."
Olick: "Locals were kept off the farm."
Man: "She is coming up here as First Lady
trying to campaign in a partisan manner with U.S. government, U.S.
taxpayer property. That's just wrong in my book."
Olick explained how she flew in on a government
plane and has Secret Service protection, but Olick also allowed Geraldine
Ferraro to argue that Giuliani similarly lives off New York taxpayers by
using New York City-provided transportation and security.

-- NBC Nightly
News. Andrea Mitchell provided the most sympathetic take on Hillary's
quest and worried about how Hillary will be hit by Rudy Giuliani's
"rough" tactics.

Mitchell began:
"It's the start of the First Lady's Senate campaign, on the farm
of retiring Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. She promises her first
priority from now on: The people of New York."
Hillary: "Now I suppose the question on
everyone's mind is why the Senate and why New York and why me."
Mitchell: "Her answer: She cares deeply
about the people in New York, but some voters are skeptical."
Crowd: "Go home Hillary."
Mitchell: "By far her biggest challenge:
convincing voters an outsider can represent them."
Giuliani: "So far the only thing we know is
where she's from. When we know what she's for we can talk about
it."
Mitchell to Clinton at press conference:
"How do you address the issue that Rudy Giuliani has raised that you
are carpet-bagging?"
Hillary: "I think it's a very fair
question and I fully understand people raising it and I think I have some
real work to do to get out and listen and learn from the people of New
York."
Mitchell: "But again, no direct answer. She
does have some big advantages. Today she flew a $36 million Air Force jet.
Getting attention clearly not a problem. A media crush of more than 200,
even bigger than for George W. Bush's campaign kick-off. Her star power
undeniably a big draw."
Crowd: "Run Hillary run."
Mitchell: "The adulation is great, but is
she prepared for whatever Giuliani can dish out?"
Hillary: "Everyone else can say or do what
they choose but for me getting out there and being with people is really a
great opportunity that I'm excited about."
Mitchell to Moynihan in a sit down interview:
"What can she expect if Rudy Giuliani is her chief opponent?"
Moynihan: "Chaos. Intrigue will be
astounding. You will be amazed at how hard it is to figure it out and how
much fun we will have trying to do it."
Mitchell: "How rough will it be?"
Moynihan: "It's going to be a wonder to
watch."
Mitchell concluded: "And then there is the
New York press. Today she ducked questions about Monica Lewinsky and
Whitewater. But aides know she'll have to deal with that before she can
make her case for becoming a Senator."

Again, maybe the
New York press will push such questions since the national press as
symbolized by Mitchell is more interested in portraying her as a victim of
Giuliani than in raising never honestly addressed ethics issues.

Andrea Mitchell seems to be on a mission to demonize Rudy Giuliani for
Hillary Clinton. Tuesday night she described a mild observation by
Giuliani as evidence of how "he's already in her face about being a
carpet-bagger" and characterized a joke he told as
"ridiculing" her. Wednesday morning she highlighted a soundbite
from a bitter Giuliani opponent who compared him to Mussolini and Hitler.

-- In a July 6 NBC
Nightly News profile of Mayor Giuliani Andrea Mitchell asserted: "His
friend and enemies agree he's brash, arrogant, aggressive -- the
ultimate New Yorker. A perfect opponent for the First Lady. And today
after she opened her exploratory committee he's already in her face
about being a carpet-bagger."
Giuliani: "You should always explore.
Exploring is a good thing. Who can have anything against exploring."
Mitchell: "Still an undeclared candidate
he's raising money, traveling the state and ridiculing the First
Lady's newfound interest in New York."
Giuliani joking on the Late Show with David
Letterman: "I'm going to get off the plane in Little Rock and I'm
going to say 'I've never lived here, I've never worked here, I
ain't never been here, but I think it would be cool to be your
Senator.'"

Apparently
Mitchell thinks criticizing your opponent should be off limits -- at least
if it hurts Hillary Clinton.

Later, Mitchell
added: "Sources say Republican leaders, angered by what they call his
independence, are quietly helping a potential challenger for the party's
nomination, even though that could divide Republicans and help Mrs.
Clinton."

Viewers might have
had a better understanding of why not all Republicans are thrilled with
Giuliani if Mitchell had bothered to point out that he endorsed a Democrat
for Governor, the far-left Mario Cuomo.

-- Wednesday's
Today ran a different version of the same basic profile story of Giuliani
by Mitchell. The July 7 Today version featured former Mayor David Dinkins,
whom Giuliani beat, smearing Giuliani as a fascist and a Nazi.
Mitchell: "Like the First Lady Giuliani is
controversial. New Yorkers credit him with making the city more livable
and prosperous. Crime way down, tourism way up. But minorities say it's
all at their expense."
David Dinkins, former Democratic Mayor:
"Some argue that he delivers services. I say yes but during World War
Two the trains ran on time in Italy and there was no street crime in Nazi
Germany."

Gibson's opening
round of questions, MRC analyst Mark Drake observed, portrayed Hillary as
a victim about to be set upon by a mean press corps and opponent. Gibson
complained to Caputo about a New York Post column that was "really
rough" on Hillary, asked Stephanopoulos to respond to his concern
that the questions for her "are gonna be brutal" and then
wondered to Molinari if Giuliani's "meat axe" might
"backfire on him."

-- Gibson to Lisa
Caputo: "Well, already it starts. It's not will she, or won't she
anymore. It's can she? And it started. [In] the New York Post today, a
column, oh, I won't mention the woman who wrote but it, it's like they're
going after her already on day one: she exaggerates her accomplishments,
she has a sense of grandeur, she is deluded, she bends the rules for
herself, she has a narcissistic personality disorder. This is gonna get
really, really rough."

-- Gibson to
Stephanopoulos: "But George, you can hear the questions now: How did
you feel about the President having sex with another woman in the White
House while you're First Lady. How you're gonna be sitting in the Senate
one day and you might have to judge a President about lying the public
etc. etc. The questions are gonna be brutal."

-- Gibson to
Molinari: "Susan Molinari, the Mayor of New York, her likely
opponent, Rudolph Giuliani, he is not a man who has used the stiletto in
the past. He's been very tough. He's used a meat axe approach to some
extent. Couldn't that backfire on him running against her?"
To Molinari's suggestion that Giuliani will
press differences on issues, a baffled Gibson replied: "Honestly, you
think he'll do that because this is, you think that he can avoid the
temptations to go after her?"

Next, Gibson did
ask his panel to comment on clips of New Yorkers complaining about how
she's a carpet-bagger and has ethical problems. From Pindars Corners
Dean Reynolds then previewed her day before Tony Perkins asked New York
City cab drivers for their thoughts about Hillary.

Hillary may not be
from New York, but she is from this country. New York City cab drivers
aren't even from this continent.

Gibson may have
refused to mention the columnist's name and have been too upset by the
content to explore the issues raised in the column, but not CyberAlert. He
was referring to a July 7 column in the New York Post by Andrea Peyser
which was certainly tougher on Hillary than anything aired by the
networks. Here's an excerpt from the column titled "Me-First Lady
Deluded by a Sense of Grandeur."

There is a name
for someone like Hillary.

A name exists for a person who routinely
cuts corners. Who has no problem appropriating the money or labor or
talents of others to achieve personal gratification and glorification.

There is a name for someone who exaggerates
accomplishments. Who believes her innate superiority entitles her to
obfuscate, evade and lie.

There is something you could call one who
is fundamentally incapable of carrying out any task to completion. A
person who continually leaves those who count on her for guidance
frustrated and empty. Angry. Unsatisfied.

The name could be Bill Clinton. These two
are a pair.

But there is a deeper disorder afflicting
the First Lady, a woman so deluded, she believes she can bend the rules,
stomp on friends and squander taxpayer money without penalty.

It is what led her to put her name on a
book she didn't write, while refusing to give her ghost writer any credit.

It is what made her not only fire staff,
but trash their reputations....

It is what led her to Whitewater.

And it is leading a failed co-President and
rejected wife, whose resume contains not a single useful adult
accomplishment, to believe she is qualified to serve in the Senate.

The name for Hillary is contained in a
chapter of the American Psychiatric Association's Manual of Mental
Disorders, which was kindly forwarded by lawyer John Ruti of Mount Kisco.

It's titled: "Narcissistic Personality
Disorder."

Here are some excerpts, plus instances
where the name fits Hillary to an N -- for Narcissist:
"The essential feature of Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a
pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration and lack of empathy.
"Individuals with this disorder have a grandiose sense of
self-importance. They routinely overestimate their abilities and inflate
their accomplishments..."

Health care. Cattle-futures trading.

"They are often preoccupied with
fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty or ideal love.
They may ruminate about 'long overdue' admiration and privilege and
compare themselves favorably with famous or privileged people."

Hillary Clinton isn't a liberal and a Congressman who voted for
federally mandated family leave, the Brady Bill, the assault weapons ban
and the striker replacement bill, which told employers who they could
employ, all while defending the National Endowment for the Arts from any
cuts, is a "conservative." So goes the analysis from CNN's
experts.

-- Hillary not
liberal. On CNN's Inside Politics on Wednesday, July 7 Lisa Caputo,
Press Secretary to Hillary Clinton until 1996 and then VP for corporate
communications at CBS until early 1998, appeared with former Gingrich aide
Tony Blankley to assess Hillary's run. Caputo insisted:
"I would respectfully disagree with my
friend Tony in labeling her as a liberal. I think this a classic early
move tactic on the part of the Republicans. I think that many people who
have been around her for a long time and followed her and read her book,
It Takes a Village, know that she has very traditional values on a lot of
issues, particularly family issues. So, I would caution anybody to affix
the word liberal to her, but rather take a hard look and take a step back
at her and her entirety. I mean this is somebody who has with a long
record, particularly on women, children and family issues...."

So, if you care
about children and families you can't be a liberal? Interesting
indictment of liberalism.

-- Giuliani a moderate and Lazio a conservative.
On Tuesday night's Late Edition/Primetime on CNN host Wolf Blitzer, MRC
analyst Paul Smith noticed, delivered interesting definitions of two
ideological labels:
"Rudy Giuliani is a moderate Republican. He
supports abortion rights. He supports gay rights. He supports gun control.
He endorsed Mario Cuomo. In a Republican contest between a conservative
like Rick Lazio and a moderate Republican like Mayor Giuliani, who wins in
New York state?"

With all those
liberal views if Giuliani is a "moderate" then how far to the
left must you go for Blitzer to consider you a "liberal
Republican"? As for Lazio, here's how the 1998 Almanac of American
Politics describes the political views of the U.S. Representative from New
York's 2nd CD:
"Lazio was not exactly a Contract with
America Republican.... His economic views are fairly conservative; he was
named to the Budget Committee as a freshman after campaigning for a
capital gains cut. On cultural issues he is moderate to liberal; he voted
for family and medical leave, the Brady bill, the assault weapons ban and
the striker replacement bill. He is one of the few Republicans to defend
the National Endowment for the Arts, but he also calls on Hollywood to
make larger private commitments to arts funding."
The National Journal's rating system put him at
56 percent conservative and 44 percent liberal on economic issues in 1996
and assessed him as liberal by 59 to 40 percent in looking at his social
issues votes.

That may be
"conservative" by New York and media standards, but not outside
the Northeast or newsrooms. I'd shift all of CNN's labels one to the
left: Lazio is a moderate, Giuliani a liberal on many issues and a
moderate on others and Hillary is far-left on everything.

"Who Makes or Breaks a Scandal? The Cox Report vs. The Iran-Contra
Report," a Special Report by the MRC's Tim Graham, is now up on the
MRC home page complete with, thanks to MRC Webmaster Sean Henry, a
RealPlayer video contrast: In 1987 Dan Rather emphasized how the
Iran-Contra Report "says responsibility for the fiasco lies with
Ronald Reagan." But in 1999 on the Cox Report, Rather stressed how
the Clinton team says "much of the stealing was done during the
Reagan and Bush years."
--
Brent Baker

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